Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Red Bull's scathing criticism of Lewis Hamilton following the British Grand Prix led directly to the "avalanche" of negative comments fired at the seven-time world champion on social media.
In the aftermath of Hamilton's high-profile crash with Max Verstappen at Silverstone, Red Bull's top brass took aim at the Briton and at the Mercedes team.
But the sideswiping extended to social media where unworthy fans of the Dutchman generated a wave of abuse, including racial slurs, directed at Hamilton.
After Thursday's FIA hearing in which the stewards rejected Red Bull's petition for a review of Hamilton's penalty at Silverstone, Mercedes issued a statement in which it stated that Red Bull had purposefully tried to "tarnish" the Briton's name.
On Friday at the Hungaroring, Wolff elaborated on Red Bull's careless attitude.
"I think the comments that were made, surely out of emotion, were going directly against a seven-time world champion," Wolff told Sky Sports.
"Words like ‘amateurish” should have no place and what it triggered was an avalanche of comments in the social media, a lot of controversy, added to further polarisation and I think we as a sport should do the contrary. We should de-escalate."
Wolff also addressed Red Bull and Verstappen's criticism of Mercedes and Hamilton who had indulged in post-race celebrations at Silverstone while the Dutchman was being airlifted to hospital.
"You can only rely on the information that you have and the information we had at the time was, from Christian himself, that he was unharmed," said Wolff.
"From another senior member of the Red Bull team that I asked, he was okay and was doing fine.
"We also asked the media on the way to the podium whether he was okay and everybody said he’s fine.
"So we won the British Grand Prix after losing five races. It was Lewis’ home grand prix and that’s why the celebration was high.
"But again, it depends from the perspective you’re looking at. If the Verstappens are in hospital for precautionary checks and he didn’t feel well, then you’re seeing that in TV while you lost, also as a competitor you can have that perception and that needs to be respected."
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